Did you realize that, even more powerfully than love, finding one’s purpose in life can give meaning?  Having purpose makes one feel that there is a reason to exist; it makes living matter.  It makes one feel that their presence on earth is worthwhile. For instance... whether the purpose is short term, like wanting to see a grandchild’s ballet recital, or longer term, like wanting to be present for a grandchild’s college graduation, or even more purposeful, like wanting to create a product or service to help others...  having purpose and meaning gives one a reason to keep standing up... to keep going and resisting the challenges in daily life. Continue reading

Over 5 million people currently suffer from the Alzheimer’s disease.  Statistics estimate that 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 years are affected by it.  The disease process takes approximately 8-10 years to work from detection to death.  It starts out slowly as two abnormal protein fragments called ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’ accumulate in the brain, consistently killing off brain cells. The ‘plaques’ are formed when sticky protein pieces called ‘amyloid-beta’ (sometimes called “beta-amyloid’) clump together to form the plaques.  The tangles are formed when there is an abnormal accumulation of a protein called tau.  When tau builds up it detaches from microtubules and clumps with other tau proteins.  These clumps build up into threads that eventually become ‘tangles’ inside neurons, which block the neurons in the brain from synaptic communication. The plaques and tangles begin accumulating in the hippocampus area of the brain, which affects memory, and then they work their way into the brain’s language center, making it difficult to instantly bring up appropriate words.  Slowly, these abnormal protein fragments spread into all other parts of the brain, finally reaching the brain center that controls breathing and the heart, thereby causing death. Continue reading

Science has taught us that we have TRILLIONS OF MICROORGANISMS that live inside and around us.  In short, everyone has their own unique microbiota, or microbial communities within them.  Even more amazingly, as we walk around with our own internal microbial families, we also emit millions of bacteria into the air around us.  In other words, each of us has our OWN “MICROBIAL CLOUD” that we individually carry around.  These MICROBIAL CLOUDS are made up of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other particulates.  Most of the microbes are harmless and different types of bacteria adapt better to specific parts of the body. Continue reading

Until very recently, omega-6 fatty acids, and more specifically, linoleic acid, which is one of the ‘most common of the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty-acids,’ had the reputation for promoting inflammation.  And, therefore, it carried the reputation for being BAD FOR YOU.  That’s because the linoleic acid transforms into another omega-6 fatty acid called arachidonic acid, which turns into other inflammatory-causing compounds. Continue reading

We have posted many Blog articles about inflammation.  Inflammation plays as both friend and foe to our bodies.  When the body has been infected by bacteria, viruses or fungi, its process of releasing white blood cells to the infected areas helps to protect and heal the body.  By contrast, however, when the inflammation becomes chronic, it can cause immeasurable harm to the body.  Specifically, chronic inflammation has been directly linked to many life-threatening diseases, such as: cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune diseases, and the list goes on. Continue reading

The primary mission of Mayo Clinic is excellent patient care.  Caring for the whole patient includes more than treating physical ailments.  Restoring the mind and spirit plays a critical role in health, healing, and wellness.  Mayo Clinic Integrative Medicine & Health’s mission is to offer health, hope and healing by providing unsurpassed care with Integrative Medicine approaches, informing and inspiring patients, staff, and communities, and expanding the evidence base of Integrative Medicine practices. Continue reading

Have you found it harder to get everything done in your daily activities?  The days seem to move faster and it feels as if we are getting fewer things done.  So, what's the solution?  Many of us may stay up later and/or get up earlier in the morning, in order to have more time to conduct our daily chores.  But, neuroscience is discovering that skimping on our sleep is one of the worst things that we can do.  Continue reading

As we age, we find how important it is to have good health in all parts of our bodies.  Each body-part is integrated with all other parts, as together, they make up the whole, and in order for the whole... or the whole body... to be in balance, its individuated parts also need to be healthy and in balance.  Continue reading

  Have you noticed that your car’s windshield seems cleaner today than it did twenty years ago, due to the fact that fewer insect bodies have been splattered on it?  I can remember as far back as into the middle/late 1960s when I had to clean my car windshield every few days, in order to clean off the little insect bodies that were stuck to the windshield.  But today, I can get by with only doing it occasionally.  A part of my compassionate nature-loving side is thankful that fewer bugs have been killed by my car; but, another side of my nature-loving self gets nervous, wondering ‘why.’ Why are there fewer flying insects?  One explanation may be that the transportation system is different with larger, wider highways, where fewer insects may go.  But, the bigger issue that is promulgated by science is that there are actually fewer flying insects than in the past.     According to an article in the Washington Post, titled, “This is Very Alarming: Flying Insects Vanish From Nature Preserves,” this phenomenon of having ‘cleaner windshields’ is a real sign of a dramatic problem of declining populations of flying insects.  Flying insects are worth approximately $57 Billion to the U.S. economy each year.  They save farmers $4.5 Billion per year by eating up the crop pests.  And, they make $3 billion per year by pollinating fruits and vegetables. They also represent billions of dollars by being food for birds, game, and fish.   In short, they keep our infrastructure of life going by supporting its ecosystems.   Continue reading

Have you ever found it to be frustrating to try to keep up with the steps in a line-dancing class?  Well, not to worry.  Whether or not you miss a few steps, the entire exercise experience of the line dancing (or any new dance routine) is dramatically helping your brain.  Specifically, recent scientific research suggests that dancing, particularly dancing where you are continually learning new steps and routines, not only has an anti-aging effect on the hippocampus part of your brain, which controls memory, learning, and balance, but it also dramatically improves balance. Continue reading